Give and get your tax back

Lori Luke
CFNZ Trustee
18 January 2021

With the end of the fiscal year right around the corner, many people like to consider their giving plans.

At this time of year, we remind generous New Zealanders that a donation to your local community before 31 March will be eligible for a 33.3% tax credit.

There are now two ways to file for a tax credit when you make a one-off gift or engage in regular giving through an A/P with your local community foundation:

• Submit copies of your donation receipt electronically throughout the year to your myIR account and claim donation tax credits as part of your end of year income tax process.
• File tax credit claim form (IR526) for the relevant tax year from April of the following year.

Hint: If you have missed filing tax credit forms for donations made in past years, the IRD will let you go back up to four years, for tax years 2017 through 2020.

Through our work around the country, we see incredibly committed donors who are starting to build their funds during their lifetimes. Many people get tremendous fulfillment by seeing the benefit of their contributions at work in their community.

And you can support your local region today in all sorts of ways, from:

• funding scholarships for educational opportunities;
• providing excellence awards for arts and sport;
• honouring family members who have died by supporting causes that would have been meaningful to them;
• or by working with your local community foundation to find just the right cause to support in your area.

In the end, people give to the causes that they value most, and the 33.3% tax credit provides a really nice incentive to act before 31st March.

It's a smart way to make your giving go further through your local community foundation.

See more about tax credits for donations on the IRD website

See how our smarter giving model works